In this particular essay ”Don’t Blame the Eater”, David Zinczenko informs the reader about the hazardous of fast food by using a great balance of argumentation. Through his contention, he demonstrates to his reader that the consumer is not so much at blame the food industry is the genuine offender here. His utilization of inquiries all through the content, alongside personal narrative, imagery, and his tone, Zinczenko has the capacity adequately contend against the control of the food industry.
The three essays assigned this week had several common threads running through them. The strongest core theme is the rapid change in the food cycle in America and the vast changes that have taken place in the way by which we grow, produce, and process the food that average Americans eat. The food we eat now is drastically different from what our grandparents grew up eating and the three essays each examine that in a different way. Another theme is the loss of knowledge by the average consumer about where their food comes from, what it is composed of, and what, if any, danger it might pose to them.
In the article, “Escape from The Western Diet,” by Michael Pollan, who has also written many nutritional books, blames our unhealthy eating on the food industry. He argues that we should avoid any processed foods because of what they have become (424). Also, he claims that the American views for preparing a meal has downgraded over the years (425). His solution is to not overeat, but to eat plants instead because they are not as manipulated
In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on. In order to establish a stronger relationship between humans and food, and allow the humans to know what they are actually eating, Pollan uses different rhetorical analysis includes different appealing strategies and various literary devices, which contribute to persuade people to comprehend the deeper meaning behind the
Michael Pollan’s Escape from the Western Diet connects well with what Mary Maxfield says in her article. Both Pollan and Maxfield talk about the ways that dieting is taking over American people’s healths and causing them to become even unhealthier.
As diets and health become more and more of a public concern in America. Two authors weigh in on their opinions on how the American public should handle the problem of obesity as well as their solutions to the overwhelming issue. In one article, “Against Meat,” published on the New York Times website in 2009, points out that the solution to obesity should be vegetarianism. Johnathan Foer who is a vegetarian, claims that his diet and way of living is his the way of improving health in the American public. Foer’s article provides a sense of humor as well as personal stories to attempt to persuade his audience for the ethical treatment of animals along with his personal solution for his own health and the health of his family. On a differing take on the solution, “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan provides the complete change of our diet and way of life based around cooking and eating meals. however creates a more powerful and logical argument against the “Western Diet” in his article, He uses a combination of his credibility from his publications on health and foods, evidence against the practices of the medical community, along with his solution to the issue of obesity to create an article that draws in audience’s emotions and rationale.
In Michael Pollan’s essay “Escape from the Western Diet,” he directly to Americans about the western diet and why he believes they need to escape from it. The reason Americans should escape the western diet is to avoid the harmful effects associated with it such as “western diseases” (Pollan, 420). To support his view on the issue, Pollan describes factors of the western diet that dictate what Americans believe they should eat. These factors include scientists with their theories of nutritionist, the food industry supporting the theories by making products, and the health industry making medication to support those same theories. Overall, Pollan feels that in order to escape this diet, people need to get the idea of it out of their heads. In turn, he provides his own rules for escaping the western diet as well as the idea of nutritionist set forth by scientists.
Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit” (197). He is no longer asking questions. The author now seems to have a sense of urgency in his tone. This change of rhythm in the writing style shows that the topic means much more to the author than initially assumed. It’s almost as if the author has become fed up with the lack of healthy food options in the food industry. He goes on to say “Complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of information about what, exactly, we’re consuming” (197). He says there are no nutritional calorie charts on fast food packages, the way they are on grocery items. Most readers would instantly understand that statement, but Zinczenko hammers it home with an example of complicated calorie facts. He shows how fast food restaurants make their calorie information complicated by splitting up different parts of the meal. (198). He shows that most are eating way more calories than they think. His usage of data and numbers in the last part of his essay reinforce what was already a strong
Accurate, easy-to read and scientifically valid nutrition and health information on food labels is an essential component of a comprehensive public health strategy to help consumers improve their diets and reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. Consumers often compare prices of food items in the grocery store to choose the best value for their money but comparing their purchases using a comprehensive food label can help make the best choices for their health. That is what makes food labeling a public health issue – inadequate food labels may lead to poor quality food choices. Indeed today food labels could not confidently be referred to as accurate, easy-to read and containing scientifically valid nutrition and all necessary health information. They are often referred to as misleading, containing flawed or inaccurate information and sometimes very difficult to understand by various health specialists. Indeed, consumer research shows that the majority of Americans do not understand the “% DV fat” on Nutrition Facts labels mean. They are
He recommends strict government enforcement of nutritional information on products by fast-food industries which will educate the public on the dangers of fast-food products and thereby help consumers make better food choices. Balko, on the other hand, contends that strict government regulation of fast-food industries will not be a lasting solution to the obesity epidemic. He calls for individuals to be more responsible for their actions and be rewarded or penalized based on the lifestyle choices they make. Balko maintains that lifestyle rewards and penalties will condition Americans to take charge of their health. As I carefully examined the reasoning behind Zinczenko and Balko’s views in their articles, I experienced mixed feelings. I acknowledge that fast food industries should be regulated by the government, but ultimately, Americans should be
The essay repeatedly states that we do not know what our food goes through, where it comes from, and that we are ignorant to the food industry. Berry says, “The consumer must be kept from discovering that in the food industry, the overriding concerns are not quality and health, but volume and price.” In basic terms, the food industry does not care about the health of their consumers but their profit. The essay also repeats questions that the reader should ask themselves, such as,
This ongoing has been a large discussion for many people. He exemplifies that through Eric Schlosser of the “Dark Side of the All-American Meal” (2001) and how San Franciscans, fretted largely about, “the nutritional dangers to their children’s health, began the last century by banning “roving pie vendors” who catered to the “habitual pie-eating” habits of schoolchildren and prohibiting the sale of soft drinks on school campuses.” (Leitcher) The question then becomes at the center of all the health promotions advertised, the advice spoken, and advocacy, to what lengths do one literary novel change the social fabric of how Americans look at food
Food companies jump through meticulous hoops just for the reason of withholding nutritional information from their customers. “These companies fight, tooth and nail, against labeling. The fast food industry fought against giving you the calorie information. They fought against telling you if there is trans-fat in your food. The meat packing industry for years prevented country-of-origin labeling. They fought not to label genetically modified foods; and now 70% of processed food in the supermarket has some genetically modified ingredient.” (Food Inc.). Eric Schlosser is depicting a strong, heavy fight against food labeling in the food production industry. He states that companies fight, “tooth and nail,” against food labeling. Companies don’t want the consumers to know what they are ingesting, and they are going to the greatest of extents to achieve that goal. It is very questionable that the food production industry would try to deceive their customers. Earlier in the film Food Inc. Michael Pollan describes the process in which tomatoes are harvested today. “There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round, grown halfway around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it's kind of a notional tomato. I mean, it's the idea of a tomato.” (Pollan).
He does not ignore the opposing views one might take to his claim, but instead acknowledges them and provides a counter for why he believes his case is worth considering. Furthermore, he declares that this topic concerns everyone, as there is proof that there is a correlation between rising health care costs and the fast-food market. These conclusions, which Zinczenko discusses in his essay, add weight to the argument that checks need to be put in place on the fast-food industry in terms of marketing and advertising to make sure that customers know what they are consuming and to lower health care costs and increase the general health of society. Some action must be taken against the fast-food industries, such as limiting their advertising or enforcing rules on more easily accessible and conspicuous nutrition facts on the products consumers are purchasing, as has been done since the time of this
Fast food warning Labels will help make it very convenient to know about what's in the food that fast food chains serve. To many people, reading the nutrition facts and the ingredients list may be difficult, as many times companies try to hide the cons of their food by making the print on the nutrition facts and ingredient lists very small, however some people were never taught about how to read nutrition facts and ingredient lists in the first place. In 2006, a study(The Nutrition Label